MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
green moss at the bottom reposed a flock of 
snow-white lambs, while at the very top a shin¬ 
ing Christmas angel stood with glittering wings, 
and with outstretched hands seemed to shed a 
blessing on all beneath. And yet all thlB ap¬ 
parent splendor was only tho result, of some 
trouhlo and much toll of the skillful Ungers of 
tho mother and Lenore, the latter having de¬ 
prived herself of many things in order to give 
happiness to these dear ones. On a side table 
was a doll with blue eyes and golden hair, 
which Grktchen was almost afraid to touch, a 
box of soldiers for iliss, some books which he 
bad expressed a wish for.and quantities of gin¬ 
gerbread and rosy-ohoeked apples. Also a 
bright blue dress, which would wellbooomo tho 
little flaxen-halrod Grktchen, and which tho 
mother’s loving Angers bad made for her darl¬ 
ing. But the crowning wonder of this wonder¬ 
ful night was the sight of two large easy chairs, 
covered with a warm crimson Btuff. On ouo of 
these was a paper with the inscription, “ To the 
father, from his loving daughter Lenohk." On 
the other a similar paper, with the mother's 
name. The Pastorand Ills wife were silent with 
amazement. The mother was the first to speak. 
“O Lenore, dear child!” she said In a trem¬ 
bling voioo, “thisIs too much; wo do not do- 
servo such kindness at your hands.” 
“ Can l ever do too much for you, dear moth¬ 
er?” answered the beautiful girl with tear* in 
her dark eyes. “You have taken care of me 
for ten long years.” And she sealed her as she 
spoke in tho comfortable chair and kissed her 
tenderly. ” Come, Herr Pastor, be seated also,” 
she said taking his hand; and the good man 
sank, bewildered into the seat. 
Just at tills moment LENORE remembeted the 
stranger, wiio had not entered the room, but 
was standing in tho doorway, as if dazzled by 
tho blaze of light which rnot Ids eyes. As Le~ 
nore advanced to meet him she hod an oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing what he was like, and came to 
tho conclusion that he was worth looking at. 
He was evidently not in bla first, youth, and had 
probably reached his thirtieth year—as his fig¬ 
ure had lost all the slenderness of boyhood, and 
his broa,d shoulders seemed fitted to bear the 
burdens of life. His complexion had been fair, 
judging from the whiteness of the forehead, but 
was of a dark-brown shade on tbo rest of the 
face. Tho hair had been disordered by the wind 
and lay in dark-brown waves on his forehead. 
His month was concealed by a thick mustaoho, 
but the eyes were handsome, of a clear, frank 
blue, and as they met hers a Bt range feeling 
came over her that she had seen them before. 
Their expression was so familiar, so franlc and 
true, that she felt at once ho was a man to be 
trusted. “ Will you not enter, Herr-” 
** Bttkkhahd," saidthegontleman. “Ishould 
headstrong youth could be found, although 
they sought him in every direction, and the 
parents had to resign themselves to his loss. 
At length all was ready for the appearance of 
the CnRiST-child at the Pastor's quiet house. 
No one was Invited bovo Lknobe's old nurse 
and her husband, who lived in a corner of Castle 
Waldeck and took the best caro they could of 
It. Lenore had insisted on putting the finish¬ 
ing touches to the arrangements In order that 
sho might bring In her own presents unseen. 
She had made sundiy private visits to the neigh- 
tbe bright waves of golden hair were pushed 
back In gUttoring masses; “hutl was thinking. 
It Is ten yoarsthls very night since my Franz 
went away, and"—he stopped, and Lenore, 
bending down, kissed him tenderly on the fore¬ 
head ** we will see Franz some day, and the 
mother will comfort you wbilo I go and finish 
our decorations, and I don't want anyone in 
the room." Hhe gathered up the parcels and 
taking her basket on her arm left the pastor 
and his wife together. 
Ten years before, one wild, stormy Christmas 
BY MARY D. BRINE 
O! for the merry “ Long Ago" 
Of childhood’s happy day, 
Before the wondrous faith and trust 
For ever fled away S 
When little hearts beat high and fast 
As Christmas morn drew near. 
And the magic name of ” 8anta Claus ” 
To every soul was dear. 
’Twas said ttiai at the midnight hour 
This prince from fairy-land 
Stepped quickly to each chimney top 
And from his lavish hand 
Dropped down for those who gifts deserved 
A plentiful supply. 
Then vanished with his fntry steeds 
Somewhere beyond tho sky. 
“ If that be so,” my playmate said 
In whispers soft to me. 
At midnight hour we’ll climb the roof 
Old Santa Claus to see !" 
But did he don the magic cap 
That hides from mortal sight ? 
For neither prince or toys saw we, 
Only the moonbeams bright. 
And yet when morning dawned at last 
And Christmas bells rang clear. 
Lo! there they were, tho Christmas gifts 
To childish hearts so dear! 
Then—many a cheer for Sunta Claus. 
The kindly prince of toys. 
Tho wonderful, mysterious friend 
Of earth's glad girls and hoys 1 
But wisdom came with added years 
And we at. last had proof 
That Marita Claus is found below. 
And not above the roof. 
All hall to tho glad Chrlstmn* time! 
We say It as of old. 
But let the children’s eager hearts 
To the old story hold. 
Let Santa Claus still live for them, 
To gladden each sweet dream - 
For soon they'll learn the painful truth 
Things are not all they seem. 
For them tho merry " Long Ago ” 
Of ohlldhood’s Christmas day, 
Ere long with childhood's distant joys 
Shall also fade awny. 
S-S-S SH! I WONDER IF THE YOUNGSTERS ARE ASLEEP! 
PRAULEIN LENORE 
boring town lately, and a mysterious cart was 
waiting to bo unloaded at the hack door, so all 
tho approaches to the dining-room and kitchen 
were carefully looked and the contents of the 
cart quickly conveyed Into the house with the 
assistance of the driver and Likhe, the old fam¬ 
ily servant. The wind was howling dismully 
among the trees of the forest, driving before It 
great flakes of snow, as old Likse closed the 
door against the storm. “ It was Just such a 
night as the one ten years ago when our Franz 
ran off. Ah, l wonder where he Is this Christ¬ 
mas Eve?” 
“ Ho will ivine home In good time, Mutter- 
chon,” answered Lenore, cheerfully. "In the 
meantime, we must hurry ; Hr will soon be eight 
o’clock—" 
Exactly at the appointed hour, old LlRSK rang 
the bell, as a signal that all was ready, and tho 
family who were assembled In tho sitting-room 
struck up the usual Christmas carol before en¬ 
tering the charmed apartment. Just in the mid¬ 
dle of tho song a loud knocking was heard at 
the front door, which sounded even above the 
howlings of the storm. The chorus ceased sud¬ 
denly, and the Paator hurrying to the front, 
door opened It cautiously to keep out the driv¬ 
ing suow. Ou tho steps stood a tall figure wrap¬ 
ped in a cloak, with a broad-brimmed hat pulled 
down over Its eyes. 
"Pardon me,” said a deep, manly voice, “la 
this the house of Pastor Muller ?” 
" It la, and I am ho; will you come In, sir, 
out of the storm ?" 
"Thank you,” answered the stranger, as he 
stopped quickly Into the passage. " f am glad 
of the shelter; but I am afraid I am Intruding 
at an unseemly hour.” 
“Not at all," said the Pastor; “all are wel¬ 
come at the Parsonage, and besides this Is 
Christmas Eve, you know.” 
“ Christmas F.ve? Ah. I had forgotten that,” 
answered the stranger, as he removed his hat 
and oloak, which were wet with snow. 
“I bring you a ChrtBtmas guest,” said the 
Pastor, as he ushered the gentleman Into the 
sitting-room, where the children were becom¬ 
ing terribly impatient. 
“HeIs welcome," answered the mother, and 
she advanced with outstretched hands, over 
which the tall lorm bent reverently. It was 
Impossible to see his features distinctly by the 
dim light of the one small lamp, so they were 
obliged to wait for the brighter rays of the as¬ 
sembled lights In the dining-room. “Now.chll- 
dren, we will wait no longer," said the father, 
Eve, Lenore von Waldeck and her Invalid 
mother wore driven from the Castle by the 
fierce old Count, who had been drinking, and 
In a lit of drunken rage had sent tbe trembling 
mother and child out Into the storm. They 
tank refuge under the modest roof of Pastor 
Muller, who, with Ids kind-hearted wire, re¬ 
ceived them with open arms. The poor Counn- 
eas did not long survive her husband’s cruel 
treatment, but died In the Pastor's house, leav¬ 
ing her pale, scared little daughter of nine years 
old, almost alone in the world. The Count died 
soon after his wife, In a fit of apoplexy. He 
had spent a handsome fortune In riotous living, 
aqd poor Lenore had nothing for her portion 
save the old, barn-like Castle, with Its worm- 
eaten furniture and a 'quail pittance she inher¬ 
ited from her mother. Her aristocratic rela¬ 
tives never disturbed tho paator and his wife In 
the possession of tho orphan Countess, as hor 
want of fortune made her an undesirable ln- 
in u to. 
The child herself gladly remained with her 
kind protectors, and grow up under their fos¬ 
tering caro from a pale, sickly, hollow-eyed 
child, into a tall, slender maiden of most ex- 
qulnite beauty and grace. Blio moved like a 
young queen among the humble villagers of 
Ansdorf who adored her for her kindness of 
heart and generosity, although she sometimes 
administered a merited rebuke with her boun¬ 
ty. Her adopted father and mother wore in¬ 
tensely fond and proud of her, a:id to them she 
was always the obedient, affectionate daughter, 
it would have broken their hearts to lose her. 
On one occasion the Countess Uohrback, a 
sistor of Lknork’s mother, came to Ansdorf on 
a voyage of discovery to see what her sister’s 
child was like, and on finding how beautiful 
she was, had insisted on taking her to the Capi¬ 
tol to present hor at Court, but Lenore resisted 
all efforts to tempt her away from hor quiet life 
at Paator Muller's. “Is this a fit place for a 
Countess Waldeck?” said the Irate lady. 
“lam the Pastor’s daughter," answered her 
niece. “If you had wanted me you should 
have taken me away whoa my mother died. I 
owe everything to Pastor Muller and hla wife, 
and I will never leave them.” 
Tho old Countess departed In a rage, and has 
never appeared since. Lenore appeared to 
learn by Intuition all that a lady should know. 
She roamed at will through the Pastor’s study 
and filled her mind with all that was best In 
German literature. Frau Muller taught her 
the rudiments of music and French, for she had 
been agoverness before she married her Fuanz, 
and Lenore bad perfected herseir In both ac¬ 
complishments. 
Tho sou for whom these kind friends of Lk- 
NOltE were grieving this evening had loft his 
home In a rage at his father who he thought 
wished to exercise undue authority over him 
In wishing to separate him from some bad com¬ 
panions whose acquaintance be had made at 
college. So ut the age of nineteen, Franz Mul¬ 
ler left his father’s house and went Into the 
wide world on tbe very night on which Lenore 
and her mother took refuge, No trace of the 
A STORY OF CHRISTMAS EVE 
BY VTOLET FULLER 
“ I WONDER when Christmas will come to 
Castle Waldeck,” said Hans Muller, the son 
of the village pastor of Ansdorf, to his little 
sister Grktchen, as they stood at the sitting- 
window one cold, snowy Christmas Eve, 
room 
looking across the white, shining road which 
divided the parsonage from the Waldeck do- 
matn. Far above the forest trees rose the dark 
towers of the Castle into the frosty nky, and not 
a ray of light, glimmered from the huge win¬ 
dows. “It la too dark over there,” answered 
Grktchen as she pressed the end of her little 
snub noBe against the pane and stared out into 
the fast-gathering darkness. “The Christ- 
child could not nee; he only comes where there 
Is light.” * 
“ But you know, Grktchen,” said Hans with 
an air of wisdom, “the CumsT-Ohlld brings tho 
light with him ; ho does riot need any from us, 
and he could make Castle Waldeck bright If he 
chose; but he won’t come where wicked people 
are, and the old count was very wicked when 
he was alive. He used to curse and swear, and 
he treated his wife and children so badly that 
they ran away at last." 
“ And where did they go ?” asked Grktchen. 
“O I don’t know,” answered the boy. “ But 
here come the mother and Frauleln Lenore, 
perhaps they know; I will ask them some day," 
and he ran to open the front door to admit the 
Frau Pastohin, whose handsome face beamed 
with good nature under her warm hood, and 
whose arms were full of bundles. Behind her 
came a tall, slender girl, whose fair face and 
bright dark eyes also sparkled with pleasure. 
She carried a basket, carefully concealed be¬ 
neath her cloak from the pryiDg eyes of little 
Hans. "Hebe Mutter," said the child, as he 
eyed the parcels wistfully, “ when will It be 
time for the CHRiST-chlld to come ? Gretcuen 
and I have been very good this evening.” 
“So?” answered the lady In loud, cheerful 
tones. “ Very well; he will come at 8 o'clock 
precisely, but not one minute before." 
“ It Is so long to wait,” complained t he child. 
“Never mind, Hans," said the sweet voice of 
the younger lady, “ the tree will be more beau¬ 
tiful for waiting.” And Frauleln Lenore fol¬ 
lowed the pastor’s wife Into the study, where, 
with a carefully-locked door, the pastor was 
engaged In the prooess of gilding nuts and 
apples for the trees. ” Well, Franz,” said bis 
wife,“are you nearly ready? everything else Is 
done.” 
“ Yes, 1 have nearly finished," answered he, 
as he looked op with an expression of weari¬ 
ness In his kind, blue eyes. Lenore stepped 
quickly to his side. “ What Is the matter, fath¬ 
er?" she asked ; " are you tired before Christ¬ 
mas begins V” 
“No, my iliild," answered he, looklngaffec 
tionately up at the fair young face, from which 
radiance. The boughs were laden with apples want n 
and nuts of brightly burnished gold; uu soft l happy, 
